Kisu Yori mo Hayaku
by wickedsistah1024
Summary: Rukia just had to wonder. One moment, she was thinking about the cruelty of the world. The next, she found herself married -of all people- to her unpredictable orange-haired English teacher. How the hell did this happen? *IchiRuki AU*


I've been wanting to write this ever since I started reading Faster than a Kiss a few months ago. I have only recently found out the joys of manga-reading (I used to read Bleach exclusively), and whenever I see a good plot, I immediately imagine what it would be like to put my OTP (IchiRuki) in that setting. And since I am so in love with FtaK, I couldn't stop myself from writing this.

Originally, I wasn't supposed to start publishing this without having finished the entire story, to ensure that there will be regular updates. However. My sister is taking my laptop away with her as she leaves for abroad. I will get a new one in a couple of months and hope to be able to write regularly then. And yes, I do have a desktop but I have been so laptop-dependent lately that I find myself feeling lazy just thinking of having to sit in front of my desktop computer for hours. And it's Rukia's birthday anyway, so in celebration, here's a new fic!

Anyhoo, because this story was based from a shōjo manga, it will read like one. That means: fast pace (lots of time skips), light-heartedness, minimal details, lots of imagination needed on your part as readers, and fluff. If you are, in any way, turned off by any of those, I suggest you close this window now—there shall be no hard feelings between us, I promise. :)

DISCLAIMER: Bleach and Faster than a Kiss are both very good manga, and I don't own either of them.

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><p>Summary: Rukia and her little brother Byakuya lost their parents and ran away from their cruel home. Sitting down on a park bench one day, her orange-haired homeroom teacher spots her after skipping class for days. She has no money and nowhere to go. With these problems piling up, just how did she end adding one more by marrying her teacher? IchiRuki AU<p>

Note: Imagine a chibi Byakuya. Ain't he the cutest thing ever?

Definition of terms:

_Yamete – Stop (feminine)_

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><p>BLEACH: Faster than a Kiss<p>

**Prologue**

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><p><em>My name is Kuchiki Rukia, and I am 16 years old. I am currently a second year high school student at Karakura High School. I have a cute 4-year-old little brother named Byakuya, whom I love more than anything in the world. My parents died over a year ago in a car accident, and since then, Byakuya and I haven't had a permanent place to stay in. We just transferred to Karakura this year, having moved from Tokyo because Aunt Kuchiki just had twins, and they needed space in the house. A few months ago before the start of my second year, we were (begrudgingly) taken in by Uncle Kuchiki who lives in Karakura-ch<em>_ō._

_Uncle Kuchiki has two kids, one was about 10 years of age, the other about six. All of them treated us badly, like we were huge burdens they had to unnecessarily take in because of unwanted blood ties. Bya-kun and I endured it for a while, because we truthfully had nowhere else to go. But even our endurance has its limit._

Rukia sighed heavily as she stood outside the house she and her little brother had been living in for about two months, since spring break. She didn't really like coming home to this alcohol-reeking place, knowing she would only see her Uncle wasting his life away on the couch watching some dumb television show, drinking beer all day. He stopped working since his wife died, having left him a hefty sum enough to cover his and the kids' expenses for quite some time. It didn't help that he and his kids would sneer at her and Bya-kun all day, reminding them that they were nothing but burdens in his home.

What made it all worse was how she was forced to leave Bya-kun to his care during the day when she needed to come to school.

She had asked him politely to enrol Bya-kun in a day-care center, since the little boy was about the right age to start pre-school. This request was met with vehement refusal, with his uncle spitting out, "You ungrateful brat! I'm already feeding you, putting a roof above your heads, and sending YOU to school. I'm not gonna waste more of _my_ money on that stupid kid!"

Rukia had opted to look for a part-time job in order to support herself and Bya-kun. However, when her uncle found out about it, he forbade her from coming to work ever again, demanding that she spend her free time at home instead, taking care of the house and his snotty little kids. That was why, for the past four days, Rukia had been skipping school and going to work in secret. She was thinking of quitting school altogether to find a more permanent job than being a waitress at a small coffee shop so she could support Bya-kun and herself, and get the hell away from their relatives.

Rukia scuffed the concrete behind her feet with the tip of her shoe, reluctant to enter the house. She was aware that she had been standing for a long time staring at the house like some kind of a stalker, but she had to muster all the patience she had in her tiny body because she was sure it was gonna be a long night as soon as she stepped foot inside the house. A dull thud from somewhere inside the residence caught her attention, followed by a very angry scream.

"YOU STUPID BRAT!"

A familiar childish yelp immediately alerted Rukia that whatever it was that was happening behind those closed doors, it had something to do with Bya-kun.

Rukia had never run faster in her entire life. In a few moments, she had raced through the doors and rushed towards the laundry room to find her Uncle staring menacingly at the tiny figure sitting by the corner, nursing a bruising cheek. Rukia spared a few moments to acknowledge the lack of fear on her little brother's face. Instead, his countenance held a defiant glare as he calmly stared back at the looming figure holding a bunch of soiled newly-dried clothes.

"You stupid shit! You dirtied all the clean clothes!" He angrily threw a shirt that had clear mud stains on it right by the little child's feet.

"I didn't."

And that was all Rukia needed to know. Byakuya may be young, but he was taught never to lie.

"WHY YOU—"

"Yamete!" Rukia ran forward and encircled Bya-kun in her arms, carrying him out of the room and away from their abominable uncle and rushed to their room.

That same afternoon, Rukia packed all of her and Byakuya's belongings, left her cursed uncle's house and never once looked back.

And that same afternoon changed Rukia's entire life.

..

..

"Argh!" Rukia sighed irritably as she stared at the bright sunset. She sat on a park bench beside her napping little brother after running away from their uncle's house. She played with the scarf on her neck as she thought back to what just happened. It was an impulsive decision on her part, having witnessed the old man's cruelty to her four year old brother. She found before Bya-kun fell asleep that it was actually their uncle's kids who were playing hide and seek around the house that got the mud all over the clean clothes. They pinned the blame on poor, innocent Bya-kun, and thus the whole fiasco.

She turned her gaze to her baby brother—raven-haired little Bya-kun—whose head was resting on his backpack, filled with clothes. She stroked his straight black hair, her mind working overdrive. Where were they going now? How were they going to move forward? She wanted nothing more than give her baby brother a good life; to not make him feel the loss of their parents. But she didn't know what to do anymore. All she had were a few thousand yen in her pocket, bags of clothes and her school books. As much as she wanted to rent a room for the night, she higly doubted her money was enough.

She was nearing the point of hopelessness.

"Kuchiki?"

Rukia's head jerked up as she stared at man who stood in front of her bench. The sunset still burned brightly behind him, making his hair look like it was a bright shade of orange.

She blinked.

Oh, his hair _was_ orange.

She gasped in shock. "Kurosaki-sensei!"

The man was scowling.

Uh-oh, busted.

Kurosaki Ichigo was her Homeroom and English teacher. He was feared by most of the students, especially her class, 2B. He wore a scowl on his face most of the time—no, no, scratch that; he wore a scowl _all the time._ The students were so intimidated by the scary expression into listening to all his lectures. Even Rukia herself.

Being daunted into listening didn't change the fact that English wasn't really Rukia's strongest subject. Actually, it was her worst. She was practically failing every quiz and homework. It didn't help that she had missed out on several classes for this trimester. And that her exams were coming soon.

But behind the scary scowl, Rukia—and perhaps a few other students—knew Kurosaki-sensei had a good heart. One very good indication of this was his great concern for his students' well-being. Any student of his who'd miss class for at least two days in a row would find him/herself answering a call, or getting a visit with the schoolwork from the teacher himself. He was very famous because of this, and no student of his could safely escape trying to feign illness just to skip school.

Which was why Rukia found herself sweating buckets as she stared at the man standing right in front of her. She knew Kurosaki-sensei was about to explode anytime soon. She didn't just miss two days—she missed four! It wasn't like her performance in his class was commendable to begin with. Oh, what perfect timing to be scolded for missing classes. As if she didn't have enough problems!

"What the hell are you doing here sitting in the park and missing what, a billion classes? How will you ever pass second year?" The orange-haired man asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed the bags around the bench. It was obvious to anyone that the girl had run away from home.

Rukia's jaw dropped. Did he just say _hell_ in front of a student? "Wh-what? It's none of your business!"

"The hell it's none of my business!" Yep, that was another one. "This _is_ damn well my business! You're _my_ student and you've been MIA for four days, missing important lessons, WHEN YOUR EXAMS ARE COMING UP!"

Rukia's cheeks burned from anger and embarrassment, forgetting Bya-kun was sleeping, and yelled back at her insensitive teacher with mounting frustration. "It's_ my_ life! I will do as _I_ please! And for your information, I've been working my ass off for the past few days so I can have enough money to support my brother and myself! Can't you see these?" She stood up and pointed wildly at her bags. "We ran away! We have nowhere to go to! And you're worried about me missing four days of school? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

A vein throbbed in the older man's forehead. "What's wrong with _me_? I'M THINKING ABOUT _YOUR_ WELFARE AS MY STUDENT! WHAT IS WRONG WITH _YOU?_"

Rukia felt her brows furrow against her wishes as she bit her lips; she could feel the tears prickling the corner of her eyes. Everything that happened the entire day was just too much for the sixteen year old girl. She wanted nothing more but live a quiet, happy life. Why did bad things keep happening to her? Hadn't she been a good girl? Why did her parents have to die? Why did her relatives have to be cruel? And what of her brother? Hadn't he been just a sweet little kid? Why was the world being harsh on her and her innocent little brother? With her frustration finally reaching its peak, she finally burst.

"I'M HOPELESS! My parents are _dead_! I don't have money! My relatives hate me! I'm in a town where I don't know ANYONE! I have nowhere to go! And my brother …my brother—" A sob escaped her lips even though she tried to stifle it.

Kurosaki-sensei grabbed the scarf on her neck, bringing his raven-haired student closer, screaming to her face. "YEAH? WELL THEN WHY DON'T YOU COME WITH ME SO I CAN TAKE CARE OF YOU?"

Rukia's hands angrily fisted on the older man's shirt, glaring at his intense amber orbs as she spoke the words that would change her entire life. "YEAH? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? MARRY ME AND TAKE MY LITTLE BROTHER IN?"

"YEAH I WILL!"

And that sealed their fate.

..

..

"You're sure about this, Kuchiki?"

Lip-biting. "Yes, as long as you promise to take care of Bya-kun."

A deeper scowl. "I said you're my responsibility now, didn't I?"

A defeated sigh. "Then just get on with it."

"You need to sign the Marriage Registration Form."

"Done. What else?"

Hesitation. The innate male possessiveness. "Eh, would you…like to change your last name to—"

Widening of eyes.

"NO! Absolutely not!"

A tick on the forehead. "WHAT? Why are you reacting so strongly against this?"

Taken aback. "I…didn't mean I like that. I meant, _not yet_…"

Agreement. "Then we're done."

..

..

_And that's how I, Kuchiki Rukia of grade eleven in Karakura High School, found myself married to my English teacher. And how I now, four months into the marriage, find myself willingly learning more about the man behind the scowl—from finding out his likes and dislikes, alleviating his fears and worries, and trying my hardest to become his ideal wife._

_And how I, along the way, find myself in love with the man whose hair was as bright as the sun._

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><p>Yes I know the argument that led to the marriage was ridiculous, but this is based on a shōjo manga where getting the characters married through a stupid argument adds to the hilarity and later on, the charm, of the story. Remember, shōjo manga-style! It's supposed to be light-hearted, and sometimes, not make sense at all! I'll be honest and say I'm afraid of how people are gonna react to this fic, but I started this whole "writing for myself" thing, so review on your own free will. And I'm not gonna spend more time explaining here (or maybe not ever) how exactly they fell in love during their time together (some things need not be explained—they just <em>are<em>, if you get what I mean), because that's not what the story is about. It's about them trying to cultivate their already existing love, keeping it a secret from the school, struggling with the mutual physical attraction Ichigo is afraid to act on and Rukia is getting frustrated with, and many other things.

Next chap is halfway done, so if I find the urge to open my desktop, I'll try to finish that one. Thanks for reading everyone! :)


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